


truth like a blazing fire, an eternal flame

by cloudstifa (nytifagrl)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, KakaYama Week 2020, M/M, i just love yamato so much he deserves the best and so does kakashi, light spoilers for kakashi and yamato backstory, spoilers for hidan and kakuzu arc, this is my take on the akatsuki fight with hidan and kakuzu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28564602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nytifagrl/pseuds/cloudstifa
Summary: When Yamato brings Team 7 to back up Kakashi & Team 10 in an Akatsuki showdown, he's not quite able to hide his feelings. Conversely, the close brush with death leaves Kakashi uncharacteristically sentimental as he ponders what exactly is important in life. He decides to act on some feelings of his own.Originally written for Kakayama week 2020, the "Akatsuki" prompt.. sorry it’s SO LATE (・_・;) hope it's still ok if i tag it but i can remove if i need to!
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	truth like a blazing fire, an eternal flame

**Author's Note:**

> so I started writing this fic last year when i saw the "akatsuki" prompt for kakayama week 2020, but life happened and i was unhappy with how it was turning out... yesterday, i decided to clean it up, finish it, and publish it! this interaction between them in this arc is the first thing that came to mind when I thought of "akatsuki"
> 
> anyway, true story, i basically fell deep and hard for kkyam the first time yamato called kakashi "senpai" and kakashi called him tenzō... and the rest is history. <3
> 
> (title comes from my favorite musical "rent")

Yamato felt his heart plummet when he awoke. It was evident that Kakashi had left that morning, his chakra signature notably absent from the air around the village. The sun might have been shining as a beautiful blue filled the skies, but Yamato was filled with fear and dread. Truly, he shouldn’t be surprised considering the current state of affairs. Having Kakashi accompany Team 10 was the best chance they had at completing their mission and getting their well-deserved vengeance. But all he could think of was the last time Kakashi had gone to fight the Akatsuki, and how he landed himself in a hospital bed for weeks.

If he was able to rejoice at any of the current events, it was that he was able to finally have Kakashi in his life once again. Yamato was proud to lead Team 7 in his absence. For the next day, he tried to shove away any and all thoughts of the situation, instead putting his entire being into helping Naruto perfect his jutsu.

~~~~~~~

Leaping through the trees without a sound, Yamato could feel the lowering levels of Kakashi’s chakra from where the fight was occurring. He clamped down on the acid churning in his stomach and silently willed himself to go faster. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai looked at each other but didn’t say a word; merely increasing their speed.

Thankful for his many years of stealth training, the mokuton user fought hard to keep up the façade that everything was okay. It was not okay. Not when he was watching helplessly as his former captain, his mentor, his friend, the most important person in the world to him- _Kakashi-_ was bound and about to be burnt to a crisp by a fire jutsu. Naruto and Yamato made eye contact from behind the cover of trees and nodded, silently rushing to the scene.

 _Wind Style: Rasengan_  
_Water Style: Ripping Torrent  
_ _Hurricane Vortex Jutsu!_

The flames extinguished, Kakashi breathed an audible sigh of relief. Team 7 had arrived just in the nick of time.

Yamato turned his head to meet Kakashi’s eye. If possible, it was better and worse than he had thought. Kakashi was obviously tired and beaten, but he was alive.

“I’ve never seen you this beat, Senpai.”

He wasn’t sure why he said it, it wasn’t exactly true. During their ANBU days, he’d carried Kakashi back to the village more times than the older shinobi would like to admit. Kakashi always put his squad over himself, leading to overuse of his Sharingan and chakra exhaustion.

His life was never quite the same after Kakashi left ANBU. He had thought of Kakashi as his savior, and took for granted that his senior would always be by his side. Kakashi leaving ANBU was a hard pill to swallow. He felt an enormous amount of loss at first but as he grew up and matured, he understood that ANBU was not a lifelong job for everyone. Yamato rose through the ranks of ANBU while also finding solace and friendship in other members to whom he committed his own life to protect. But he still struggled when he saw carefree shinobi roaming the markets, able to walk the streets without a mask. His favorite secret pastime was people-watching from the rooftops and shadows silently, wishing for a day when he too could wander freely.

The day Tsunade called him in to lead Team Kakashi left him in a whirlwind of emotions. The worry about Kakashi burning out from chakra exhaustion fighting with the butterflies in his stomach bursting free after years of suppression. He was nervous and terrified yet excited and deeply longing to see Kakashi again. A side perk was that he would finally be able to live his dream and meander through the village normally, like the other jōnin.

“Sorry about that,” Kakashi offered, breaking him out of his reverie.

“These guys must be strong,” Yamato asserted. After doing a quick visual check on Ino and Choji - they looked okay - he caught the eye of his senpai once again. He internalized his relief and put his attention and focus back on the creature in front of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fight was won. Shikamaru’s genius had outwitted both the Akatsuki and Naruto’s new jutsu Rasen-Shuriken - even in its incomplete form - had wiped out the rest of the lives of the gray beast in front of them.

“It’s about time to go,” Yamato said to Naruto gently, as Sakura and Ino struggled to lift him.

Naruto raised his head. “Where’s Kakashi-sensei?”

“He’s dealing with some unfinished business.” They could hear a slight commotion from behind them. “I’m going to help, but let me know if you need anything,” Yamato relayed, before leaping over to the newly formed crater.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tenzō, you didn’t have to come back. Don’t worry. I have things under control.” Kakashi looked over at him and his visible eye crinkled into a smile. The gray Akatsuki was out cold, and slung over his back.

Yamato’s eyes lingered on Kakashi’s a moment too long before he looked away. “I was a little worried, senpai.”

Kakashi huffed. “I’m not that fragile you know.” He took a step toward Yamato, adjusting the load on his back.

They were close now; Yamato could feel Kakashi’s chakra buzzing as his own heart beat furiously in his eardrums. Without thinking, his thumb stroked the part of Kakashi’s cheek where his mask had torn during the fight.

By the time Yamato came to his senses, he couldn’t read the look in Kakashi's visible eye. He dropped his hand abruptly and coughed a few times, the sound sounding distant and faint to his own ears, the pounding of his heart drowning out sounds of the outside world. He shifted on his feet uneasily and gave a tentative lopsided smile. “Need any help with that?” he asked, motioning to the bulk Kakashi was carrying.

Kakashi grinned. “Sure. Let’s take turns lugging this thing back.”

“Yes, senpai!”

They turned on their heels and started traversing the forest back to Konoha.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they completed the mission debrief, Tsunade ordered them all to take two weeks off from duty and to rest.

Team 10 and Team 7 scattered to the wind, heading off in opposite directions, leaving Kakashi and Yamato in a cloud of dust.

“Are you sure you don’t need to get a check-up at the hospital?” Yamato asked, giving the other ninja the side-eye.

“Tenzō,” Kakashi huffed. “I am perfectly okay. Why is everyone mocking my stamina these days?”

“We’re just concerned about you, Kakashi-senpai,” Yamato said seriously.

“Well, I’m fine,” Kakashi insisted, shuffling ahead. Just then, he almost slipped on a patch of fallen leaves. He caught himself and ventured a look at his companion. Yamato was shaking his head, though the hint of a smile was on his lips.

“What are we going to do with you?” Yamato stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Kakashi’s waist. “Come on, I’ll take you back home.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yamato had recently moved out of the ABNU barracks into an empty Jōnin apartment, but it was his first time at Kakashi’s place. Despite Kakashi living there for many more years, it only had the barest necessities and a minimal amount of furnishings.

“I’m sure your place is nicer than mine,” Kakashi said, groaning as he collapsed onto his couch wearily, hand immediately grabbing the well-worn book from his pouch out of habit. “I know, it’s not much to look at, but it has a bed.”

“Can I grow or bring you a potted plant?” Yamato joked ruefully, scratching the back of his neck. He tentatively took a step further into the apartment, unsure whether to see himself out.

“Hey don’t go yet. Come here,” nose already buried in his book, Kakashi waved his hand and beckoned his kouhai over to the couch.

Yamato locked Kakashi’s front door and settled cross-legged next to the older ninja on the couch.

Kakashi turned his body to face his companion. “Talk to me, Tenzō.”

“What about?”

“You’re wound really tight. Something on your mind?” Kakashi asked lightly, clapping a hand on Yamato’s shoulder. He closed his Icha Icha nonchalantly and set it down gingerly on the side table beside the couch.

“I… everything is okay.” Yamato said, smiling. It didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow, but it was barely noticeable as it disappeared under his hitai-ate. “Really Tenzō.” It was more of a statement than a question.

He never could hide anything from his former captain, his mentor, his friend, the most important person in the world to him, from _Kakashi_.

Yamato let out a long sigh. “Okay, well, I… was pretty freaked out earlier,” he confessed quietly, gaze fixated on anything but Kakashi. “When I felt your dwindling chakra levels as we were rushing to get to all of you. I know we’ve been on our fair share of dangerous missions in ANBU together.” He swallowed visibly. “But… when you were in ABNU, I was always there with you. After I met you and joined your team anyway. Today, I felt like if we’d been just a fraction of a second too late…” he looked down at his hands.

“But you weren’t.” Kakashi cut in. “You made it just in time.” He leaned over and gently removed Yamato’s happuri, setting it down on top of his battered book. He gestured at Yamato’s outerwear.

A little surprised, Yamato shrugged off his flak jacket, draped it off the end of the couch, and returned to his previous position.

Kakashi ran a long thin finger along Yamato’s forehead, smoothing out the lines. “I knew we would be okay because I trusted you and Naruto would come,” Kakashi murmured. “And while we’re here, let me say this without making a joke out of it… thank you Tenzō, for all you’ve done to help with Naruto’s training. We wouldn’t be here without you.” He withdrew his hand and simply looked openly at Yamato, visible eye clear and honest.

“Kakashi-senpai.” Yamato could feel his face growing hot and the tips of his ears burning.

“And thank you for watching over us all these years.”

“…What?”

“Did you think you would really be able to hide your chakra signature from me after our years together? I know you prowled the rooftops at night, Tenzō. I felt you guarding the jōnin apartments.”

Yamato looked back at Kakashi wordlessly, almond eyes wide.

Kakashi continued. “I know it felt like we grew out of touch. But I felt your presence nearby always. Iknew when you were off on missions too… just as I know you did when I was away.”

“Well, um.” Yamato said, mouth feeling dry. “I was just doing my duty in keeping Konoha safe.”

Kakashi grinned. “I know. You’re nothing if not thorough in your work.”

Yamato paused. “Kakashi-senpai, are you okay? You’re being awfully nice and it’s throwing me off. You are not feverish, are you?”

“I guess I’m being a little sentimental after this last brush with death…” Kakashi replied with a crooked smile that could barely be made out as such under the remains of his tattered mask. He removed his hitai-ate, one eye remaining shut while the other looked at his companion meaningfully.

With electricity in their shared gaze, Yamato took a deep breath that did little to calm him down.

Kakashi’s eye scanned Yamato’s expression as he slowly took his hand. Yamato could feel the rough callouses on his mentor’s hands, but it was familiar and comforting, as if complementing his own.

With his other hand, Kakashi steadily lowered his torn mask. Yamato gasped. It wasn’t the first time he had seen Kakashi without a mask. But it was the first time he had seen such a beautiful pink blush on those lovely cheekbones.

Timidly, Yamato slowly leaned forward, softly tracing the scar across Kakashi’s eye with his finger. He brushed the older ninja’s hair back softly.

“Senpai,” he whispered. “Are you…?”

Kakashi plunged forward to steal a warm, chaste kiss.

Yamato pulled back hesitantly, cheeks and ears red, but uncertainty mixed with a fierce yearning evident in his eyes. “Are you sure... is this… okay?”

“Tenzō,” Kakashi breathed. He cupped his hand on Yamato’s cheek and guided their mouths back together, this time in an intensely passionate kiss. Yamato poured all of his gratitude and relief from the day into the kiss, hands running through Kakashi’s hair and down his back until he settled on an embrace close enough to feel two sets of hearts beating rapidly even through their ragged Jōnin blues.

“More than okay,” Kakashi answered belatedly. “I came to the determination during the fight that if we both made it out of this one alive, I would find out if… well. If I was reading the signs correctly.”

Yamato moved back slightly, reluctantly.

“Kakashi-senpai, I…” Tears collected in Yamato’s eyes unabashedly. “You rescued me. I have admired you for years. I hid my feelings behind all of that, but I have always been more than a little jealous of anyone and everyone who got to keep company with you when all I could do was hide in the shadows.”

“Well, ah. As I’m sure you know already, I haven’t exactly had the time to have many romantic partners.”

“Yes but just being close to you, going on missions, or simply eating at the ramen stand together. I really missed that. I missed you.”

Kakashi reached out and brushed the tears from Yamato’s eyes. “In some ways, it feels like no time has passed, since you’ve always been nearby protecting us.” He looked pensive for a moment. “You know, I was taken aback when you of all people walked into my hospital room that day. I was so relieved.”

“My heart was beating out of my chest, I was sure you heard it,” Yamato laughed. “I never wanted the first time for us to meet face-to-face again to be in the hospital.”

Kakashi looked sideways. “It wasn’t exactly my finest moment.”

Yamato shifted closer to Kakashi, and his hand nudged Kakashi's chin back to facing him as his finger continued to trail the other man's exposed mole and jawline tenderly. “To be honest though,” he said quietly, “I never thought I would find happiness and partnership in this lifetime.”

“I can understand that. I… well, I’ve been plagued,” Kakashi disclosed, voice wavering slightly. He shook his head as if to rid his mind of unwanted thoughts. “With… fears of not deserving... of being scared to allow anyone to be close to me. But you, Tenzō… you have always been there for me, even when we were apart.”

Yamato took the other's hand once more. “I will _always_ be there for you, Kakashi-senpai,” he said fiercely, eyes ablaze. “I’d give my life for yours in a heartbeat.”

“No, Tenzō,” Kakashi drew out the syllables. “Your life is precious too.” Even with his wild hair, frayed clothes, and scarred closed eye, he looked just as charming as he did when he had saved little Kinoe from Danzō a lifetime ago. “Instead, let's promise to protect each other.”

It was a request from his former captain, his mentor, his friend, the most important person in the world to him, from _Kakashi_.

Yamato nodded, unable to articulate a response to adequately express his thoughts. Instead, he nuzzled Kakashi’s nose affectionately as the older shinobi hooked an arm around him and hugged him close. He was finally in his rightful place, next to Kakashi. As he contemplated the true meaning of what this all meant, of everything that had transpired that evening, their lips met once again, searching, giving, taking, until Yamato’s brain stopped thinking altogether. At least for now.

_**Omake:** _

“Tenzō,” Kakashi purred. “Even if I slip and call you Yamato accidentally on missions, you will always be Tenzō to me.”

“You’re _supposed_ to call me Yamato on missions,” the younger man reprimanded.

“Whatever,” Kakashi replied gleefully. “I do what I want.”

With a twinkle in his open eye, Kakashi pushed Yamato onto the bed and was about to follow suit when a knock sounded on his apartment door. “Lady Tsunade needs to see you both, to review the autopsy of the captured Akatsuki,” the ninja messenger relayed.

Kakashi sighed loudly and began pulling back on his torn undershirt, while tossing Yamato his.

“Don’t worry senpai,” Yamato teased. “Remember, we still have two weeks off.”

“Yes, but for once, I want to get started early,” Kakashi pouted.

“Cute,” Yamato said, winking. “I’ll see you there.” He gave Kakashi a quick kiss on the lips before shunshin-ing off.

Grumbling, Kakashi retreated back to the living room, to gather his hitai-ate and Icha Icha when he noticed Yamato’s forgotten flak jacket and happuri. He grabbed the missing items with a wide grin hidden under his mask and followed Yamato, handing them over wordlessly once he arrived.

The tips of Yamato’s ears turned pink as he hurriedly put his jacket on and set his happuri back in place. His hair stuck out a little messily.

“Cute,” Kakashi countered back, though it didn’t come out as quietly as he meant to.

Yamato attempted to glare, though with no real bite, at his former captain, his mentor, his friend, the most important person in the world to him. At his _partner_ , Kakashi. His lips inadvertently turned upwards into a smile.

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow at them before clearing her throat. “Don’t worry you two... this won’t take long.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡


End file.
